AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition

AMD may have already raced ahead of Intel when it comes to integrating more cores into its CPUs with the launch of its 12-core Magny-Cours workstation/servers CPUs, but it’s taken considerably longer to release a desktop processor with more than four cores.

However, while Intel’s first six-core desktop CPU, the Core i7-980X Extreme Edition is brutally fast, it’s also extortionately expensive, retailing at £840, more than three and a half times the price of the quad-core Core i7-930.

In contrast, AMD has taken a completely different approach with its first six-core desktop CPU, the Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition - pricing it far more reasonably.

Thus, at £240 the Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition is only £95 more expensive than the quad-core Phenom II X4 965 BE and only £10 more than the quad-core Core i7-930.

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The X6 1090T BE is physically indistinguishable from the X4 965 BE as it’s also a Socket AM3 processor. This means it should work in any Socket AM3 or Socket AM2+ motherboard that can handle a 125W TDP CPU with a suitable BIOS update.

If the 6-core Core i7-980X Extreme Edition wasn't fast enough for you, we've another treat for you today. Meet the world's first 12-core CPU and its Intel rival, which hopes to get by with six physical cores and six logical Hyper-Threaded cores.

Intel has finally released a CPU worthy of its premium Extreme Edition brand - the first six-core desktop processor. Previously known as Gulftown, the Core i7-980X Extreme Edition is not only brutally fast out of the box but also a fantastic overclocker thanks to its 32nm transistors.

The original Core i7-920 is the best selling high-end CPU, but as it's now nearing its 18-month birthday Intel has decided it's due for retirement. We check out its replacement, the i7-930. Clocked at 2.8GHz, it's only 133MHz faster than the i7-920 - but thanks to overclocking, it's still the chip to buy.

AMD updates its Deneb core on its fastest Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition, and claims the C3 can overclock more, yield faster DDR3 memory and has even fixed the performance bug with its sleep states. Does it make a difference? We put the claims to the test.